Seattle City Council Debates Ugly Street Billboards: Our business-friendly mayor and council want to blight Seattle streets with around 80 eight-foot-tall digital advertising kiosks scattered around dense parts of Ballard, the University District, and SoDo. They think these billboards, which doesn't do anything your phone can't, will be good sources of passive income. Stop making us live a life where we are constantly advertised to. If you want to improve our streets, pedestrianize them.

Barnes Issues Statement on Denny Blaine: New SPD Chief Shon Barnes released a statement in response to public outcry after his officers told three legally-nude people to put clothes on at Seattle's queer nude beach, Denny Blaine, and then ordered a trans woman to leave after she refused to get dressed. Barnes' statement starts off in a way where we can see the sensitivity training at work: 

We recognize the historic use of this park as an LGBTQIA+ gathering place and nude beach, and we are thoughtful about policing with the context of interactions historically between these communities and the police.  

This seems good! "Simply being nude is not a crime," Barnes wrote. Yes! True! But, then he says that SPD still needs to police the area because "we do not have tolerance for illegal indecent or lewd behavior at the park." However, SPD is going to reevaluate their approach to policing Denny Blaine "to best meet the needs of the community and enforce the law in order to provide public safety for everyone. " Sounds both like a lot of nothing and also like a smidge of progress. Keep yelling at the cops! They are sometimes capable of hearing feedback.

Tree Activism Reaches New Heights: A 25-year-old activist has spent over two nights 80 feet up in the air in a grand fir near the Elwha River that is slated to be cut down for timber. The activist is protesting the tree toppling and the continued logging in the Elwha watershed. The set-up seems pretty legit; the activist is hanging out "atop a platform some 80 feet up in the air, which is secured to a blockade of cement anchors and wood debris on the logging road... rigged to topple if the blockade is disturbed." They also have "a composting toilet, plenty of food and even a watercolor paint set," according to the Seattle Times. The Department of Natural Resources is patrolling the area. Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove is fuming. He called the protest "dangerous vandalism." We're tree people up here, Dave! Remember the tree murder song...? 

While We're on the Subject: Who remembers Man in Tree? The guy who stayed in the Grand Sequoia tree outside the downtown Macy's for over 24 hours? He refused to engage with the police, and "illustrated his point by shouting curse words, throwing pine cones and orange peels at passersby, and hurling an apple at medics below," then asked for a pack of Camel Crushes. 

White Sox Fan Becomes Pope: Yesterday, the first-ever American became pope. Robert Francis Prevost, 69, from Chicago is now Leo XIV. Here is what we know about Robert/Leo: He was the head of the Augustinian order (having an Augustinian pope is also a first), he had only been a cardinal for two years, he has Peruvian citizenship, he's critical of Trump's immigration orders and JD Vance's views of religion, he was pro-vaccine during the COVID-19 pandemic, and he might hate gay people. Oh, and he's not a Cubs fan.

I am unapologetically telling you right now that Chicago is going to be insufferable about this, there is still a fading cardboard John Paul II in a Michigan Ave storefront looking out at Grant Park because he spoke there *once.*

— Daniel Kibblesmith (@kibblesmith.com) May 8, 2025 at 11:10 AM

A Chicago Pope implies the existence of an MLA Pope and APA Pope

— Hector Diaz (@iamhectordiaz.com) May 8, 2025 at 10:36 AM

The Kids Are Simply Not Alright: This Intelligencer article about how dependent today's college students are on AI sent shivers down my spine. They're using AI to write, they're using AI to code, they're using AI to think. Please! Struggling through coursework, learning, is what makes us human. Do not cede that to the machines. Ethics professor Troy Jollimore has concerns. “Massive numbers of students are going to emerge from university with degrees, and into the workforce, who are essentially illiterate,” he said. “Both in the literal sense and in the sense of being historically illiterate and having no knowledge of their own culture, much less anyone else’s."

Noem Says No: Homeland Security Secretary and Dog Killer Kristi Noem told a Senate appropriations subcommittee that there was "no scenario" in which she would facilitate the return of wrongly-deported Maryland man Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who is being held in an El Salvador prison. Noem's comments openly go against a Supreme Court order directing the return of Abrego Garcia. According to HuffPost, "Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) called her remarks 'incredibly chilling for the balance of powers in a democracy.'"

A song for your Friday: I can't believe Pope Leo likes the Sox. Their song is so much worse than the Cubs' song.